


All Things Come To An End

by queenofyallbitches



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us) Bonding, Ellie (The Last of Us) Needs a Hug, F/F, F/M, Joel (The Last of Us) Lives, Protective Joel (The Last of Us), Softie Joel (The Last of Us), Stalkers (The Last Of Us)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:21:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25737967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofyallbitches/pseuds/queenofyallbitches
Summary: Joel owes Bill a big favor this time around. On their way, they stumble across a little girl. Tess is not so happy about him smuggling a kid at first, especially not for Marlene, but soon softens up to Ellie's kind heart.The trio has a long and difficult journey ahead, but eventually, everything in this world comes to an end...
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Joel/Tess (The Last of Us)
Kudos: 9





	1. Unbound (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kyawas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyawas/gifts).



> This is my alternative story to The Last Of Us. I simply wrote it to finally stop thinking about Part II which doesn't necessarily mean the original one is bad and I don't mean to offend anyone who loved it. It's just that the story of the game had some major plot holes in my opinion and maybe for you too if you are reading this.  
> So this will be a mash-up between Part I and II.  
> I hope you like it and please stay safe and healthy.
> 
> "The best stories are the ones with the unexpected plot twists that no one would have guessed, even the writer."  
> \- Shannon L. Alder
> 
> I'm also writing by this quote, so if something doesn't quite add up or totally comes out of the blue - I can assure you it surprised me as well and I'm not sorry ;)

The sunlight bounces back from the broken mirror on the bathroom wall right into Joel's eyes. Blinded, he adjusts his gaze the other way.  
On the way towards the door something catches his attention. There is a note from Tess.  
It says: “I will be back in the evening. Just picking up some goods.. - T”

“Damn it… I slept too long. Why didn’t she wake me up?”, Joel muffles in his beard. He packs his stuff and makes his way to the food distribution center in Boston which allows the citizens of Boston to get food from time to time.

  
“Shut the fuck up and get on your knees!”, a soldier shouts to a man who doesn’t want to get testet for the virus.

Joel turns his back and walks inside the center. After he luckily got some breakfast in exchange for a ration card, he made his way to his old friend Bill.

  
"Hey, finally showing up, eh?" Joel gave him a look which made him quit his next sentence.

  
"So, what's the favor I owe you exactly again?" Joel asks.

  
"Are you ready to leave for a three days trip?"

  
"Wait, hold on. I thought this wasn't going to take this long."

  
"Look, I need to pick up some parts from outside of town and you owe me for getting you that ring, so let's not waste anymore time. Chop chop."

  
"Tess doesn't know about this. She is still working and won't come back 'till tonight. I can't just be gone for days." A frown makes his way across Joel's forehead.

  
"Oh shit. You didn't even propose to her yet? Man, I don't know. Leave her a note or something."

"What if we don't make it out alive?"

  
"Well, ain't my problem then. Now, get a move on."

* * *

  
After searching for two days looking inside every damn car on the way, Joel and Bill still haven't found all the parts in order to fix up a car. They entered a new city. A sign on the road says _New Haven_.

  
"Bill, how long is this going to take? We have to get back all this way in just one day and we still don't have the parts."

  
"Don't worry. When we find them we will be back in no time. The streets are not blocked or anything. Relax."

  
"Don't tell me to relax. I'm done with your crusade. Why do you want to get a car so badly anyway!?"

  
"None of your business."

"Okay, I guess." Joel scoffs. After a second thought he hears himself mumbling: "Well fuck you, I'm done here!"

  
Bill stepped in front of him so he couldn't walk back.  
"Tess will manage alone!", he yelled at him.

  
Suddenly, the sound of clickers echoes in the small alley they are in.

  
"Shit, we gotta run."


	2. By Any Means

Birds are chirping in the trees and bees are summing in sync.  
“They sound happy.”, Ellie looks back at Marlene.

  
“Well, they don’t have to worry about getting infected. Just like you, my dear.”

  
"How long will it take us to get to the hospital where the doctors are at?", Ellie asks while she is jumping down from a tree stump.

  
"It's gonna take us a while, sweety. A couple weeks on foot by this pace."

  
Ellie scoffs. "Oh maaan, that's far…"

  
"Are you hungry? It's getting dark soon and we should look for a place to set camp."

  
"Starving."

The sun is setting. Luckily they made it to an abandoned cottage with a pretty sturdy roof on top.  
"It looks like it's going to rain pretty soon.", Marlene states while looking outside a dirty window.

  
"Woooah, there is a fucking bear!!"

  
"Ellie, that's just a stupid trophy. Can you please help stirr the beans for me?" Marlene is taking a look at the map to find the quickest root possible in order to find the hospital as soon as possible.

  
"Why would someone put the head of a bear on his wall like wallpaper?"

  
"That's what some people used to do as a hobby before the outbreak", Marlene explains.

  
"Well that's horrible. Did they at least use the meat and stuff?"

  
"I don't know sweety, but even if they did, to hang parts on the wall is still distasteful in my opinion."

* * *

The wind is slamming raindrops against the windows which thankfully were mostly still intact. A screeching sound wakes up Marlene from her slumber.  
She steps outside in the night with her flashlight.

  
"Ellie, wake up!"

  
"Whaaht is it?" Ellie sleepily gets up and is looking directly at the panicked face of her surrogate mother.

  
"I think there is a horde of runners outside coming closer. We got to go somewhere where it's safe."

  
Both of them quickly pack their stuff and run outside along the small path.  
Ellie shrieks. Marlene looks at her just in time while a clicker is grabbing her arm. She takes her machete and severes its arm. Dark blood was spilling everywhere. The path is already full of infected which are alarmed by Ellie's scream, coming towards them.

She grabs Ellie and both of them run directly into the woods.  
Darkness surrounds them. After a few zig-zag-running between trees, Marlene stumbles over a stone downhill.  
Ellie is running behind her trying to catch up to buffer her fall. But she was of no use in the moment. Eventually, Marlene comes to a halt. Blood all over her face.  
Exhausted, Ellie arrives downhill. Fear in her face after she takes a close look at Marlene's sight.

  
"Shit, shit, shit. Are you okay!? Can you walk?"

  
"Run!" Marlene looks at her in pain. "I can't but you have to make it to the fireflies. Just remember that they are in the west. Look at the sun and you will know the direction to go. Just like I told you. They will find you when you're close."

  
"I can't just leave you.", Ellie says with a small wimper.

  
"Please. Remember, you are our only hope."

* * *

Ellie runs as fast as she can. Tears stream down her face.  
" 'the fuck is wrong with you Ellie?!"  
More tears let her to stumble and fall. Her back against a tree she closes her eyes and waits until she falls asleep.

* * *

A ray of sunshine peeks through the thickness of leaves. Ellie pulls herself up.  
Disoriented she tries to find a good look at the sun to make out where to go. But there was no way she could see the sky from here.  
Not just every bone of her but also her heart hurts deeply. She makes her way in a random direction in hope of finding a clearing.

Her mind is blank and having this tunnel vision she hears a crack suddenly nearby.  
Immediately she zones back in and looks at her surroundings.  
Flowers and trees, nothing unusual. Her eyes were scanning every direction but no one was there.  
She goes on slowly, making sure she can focuse on her hearing.  
A rustling comes from the direction she is heading. Now she gets extremely nervous. All kinds of scenarios rushing through her mind.

But then she saw a figure with stooped posture peeking through a bush looking directly at her.

  
Her heart beat increases rapidly.  
Slowly Ellie reaches behind for her knive. But the weird creature is not having any of it and jumps at her. She hears herself making a loud scream and lands harshly on her back which blows all the air out of her lungs.  
With her hands she struggles to keep away the stalker.

  
A gunshot rings in Ellie's ears.

Shocked, she looks up. There was a middle-aged man standing in front of her. He looks a bit scruffy in her mind. Another man comes through the bush. He was way bigger but more or less the same age as the other man.

  
"Well, thanks." Ellie finds herself saying.  
The slimmer man looks at her and then at their surroundings. "Are you alone?"

  
"Whhy?" Ellie stumbles back.

  
"Joel, let's head back to the street.", the bigger man says.

  
"She will not make it a day out here."

  
"Well, do you want to take her with us?"

  
"I'm fine by myself." Ellie interrupts Bill.

  
"Looked like it.", Joel states.

  
"You said there is a street nearby?", she looks at Bill and ignores Joel's comment.

  
"Look, I just need to find a way west."

  
"That's where we are heading." Bill looks in disbelief at Joel.

  
"I thought you were heading back?", he mocks Joel.

  
"We are not going to make it in time anyway if we don't find a working car or the rest of the missing parts."

  
Bill just gives Joel a certain look and heads wordless towards the highway they came from.

  
"I'm Ellie by the way."

Joel just gives her a nod and looks back at where Bill went. Joel and Ellie follow him.

* * *

Eventually they find an almost functioning car.

  
“I think I can work on this one with the parts that I got.“ Bill opens up the hood and gets to work.  
After a short while he was done repairing.

“So this is gonna work?”

“Only one way to find out.”

  
"Okay then. It was nice meeting you." And Ellie heads on west.

  
"Wait, how far is it to wherever you have to go? Maybe we can drive you there." Joel looks at her in an almost concerned way.

A frown crosses Bill's face.

"Are you out of your mind?! I'm not gonna drive across the country for this girl we literally just met. I got things to do. And Tess is probably already worried about her future husband. Stop projecting things onto her. That girl is gonna get you killed." The last sentence he whisperes so only Joel could hear him.

  
A gunshot made them jump.

Joel immediately makes out the location the gun went off. There was a tall man standing behind another broken down car with a rifle.  
Joel looks back at Bill. But he had to gaze down. The bullet went straight through Bill's temple.  
Completely shocked by the abrupt loss he zoned out for a second.

He just feels Ellie pulling his arm and Joel stumbles behind the car. Another gunshots from multiple people went off.

  
"I'm so sorry.", Ellie apologizes.

"Shh.." Joel takes a look through a window at the group of people.

  
"Okay listen to me. Can you start a car? The keys are already inside, you just have to turn them. I will push the car and jump on it once it's driving okay? You have to keep pushing down the gas pedal and get us out of here as fast as you can. Do you understand?"

  
"Okay.", Ellie is terrified she can't do it. She never started a car before.

  
Once she made her way over the back seat to the drive seat another gunshot went off. But it misses her head by inches. Only some glass shatters.  
She tries to start the ignition of the pick-up. It won't start.  
Joel makes his way careful to the back and begins to push. The group of hunters is getting closer and the shots are getting more precise.

Ellie turns the keys again, but nothing happens.

  
Infected run from the woods towards the hunters. That gives Joel a little bit more time to push the car by himself. Thankfully, the car is facing downhill and with one final push the car is running smoothly. Joel jumps on and Ellie gets them as far away as possible with screeching sound from the tires and clickers behind them.

"Okay, I think you can stop now." Joel switches with Ellie and they continue to drive west.  
After a while she breaks the silence.

"I didn't mean any of this."

  
"Don't… Just don’t mention him ever again.", Joel grumbles.

* * *

  
Hours go by.

"Look, I appreciate you getting me closer to my destination but it's on the west coast and I overheard you have to head back so you can just drop me off here. I think I will find it on my own."

  
"You have to get to the WEST coast?! Why do you have to go all this way?"

  
"Because of this." Ellie shows Joel her mark from where she was bitten months ago.

  
Joel looks at her arm and immediately pulls over which makes the tires squeal again.

"What the.. you are INFECTED!??"

  
"Calm down it's not what you think", Ellie tries to cool the situation down.

  
"Oh, what else could it be?!" Joel looks at her angry and betrayed.

  
"This is two months old."

  
"Can't be. Everyone turns in a day or two."

  
"Look at me! I'm not fucking lying! There is this hospital where the fireflies try to make a cure with my help because I'm immune. This will change everything. You have to believe me."

  
Joel takes a look inside the rearview mirror and then at his watch.

  
"Say something."

"If this is true..", he looks at Ellie," then I guess you are a very important person to keep alive."

They hear a galloping sound. Joel looks again in the rearview mirror and sees Tess to his surprise.

  
"Here you are! I've been looking for you all over", Tess looks at him furious.

  
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. This crusade took far too long. I was helping Bobby to find some parts and it was way more difficult than we thought."

  
"Who is she?", Tess gives a nod in Ellie's direction.

  
"We stumbled across her and she seems to be immune. The fireflies want to make a cure with her help which is why she has to get to them as quickly as possible to end this kind of madness we are living in."

  
"Are you out of your mind? It's very dangerous alone. Where is Bill?", Tess asks.

  
Joel looks down. "He didn't make it. There was this group of hunters who ambushed us..."

  
"Oh I'm so sorry. But see, this is what I mean." She looks at him livingly.

  
"Tess, I know.. but this.. getting her to the hospital would redeem all our behavior as hunters. Do you know what I mean?"

  
"I do. But still it's too dangerous."

  
"You could join us. I don't know any man that wouldn't be scared if they saw your badass attitude." He teased.

  
That made Tess smirk for a fraction of a second.

  
"Good." Joel looks satisfied.

And the three of them drove off with a horse in the back of the car.


End file.
